The Maine Warden Service is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the individual who for no known reason shot a Canada lynx in Aroostook County.
The lynx’s body was discovered Oct. 15 along Mouse Island Road, and evidence indicates the animal was shot within 24 hours of its discovery, police said.
Killing a Canada lynx is a federal offense because it’s a protected species.
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department officials called the Perham killing “unnecessary” and said the animal was “left to waste.”
The Canada lynx is a medium-sized wild cat with long, dense fur, triangular ears with black tufts, and large, snowshoe-like paws.
The cat is a specialist predator, primarily hunting snowshoe hares, and its population is closely tied to the hare-population cycle.
Found in boreal forests across Canada, Alaska, and parts of the northern U.S., the lynx is well-adapted to snowy environments.
The reward for the lynx’s senseless killing is being offered by Maine Operation Game Thief, a nonprofit confidential tip line and reward program that allows the public to report illegal hunting, fishing, and wildlife crimes.
Tips can be submitted anonymously by phone at 1-800-ALERT-US or online at maineogt.org.Rewards are typically offered when tips lead to arrests and convictions.
